Hey Guys,
I'm about to start on my second gun build. I've been killing it up here on the north coast with my 38" mid-handle, and loved making it. For the new gun, I'm going for a 64" mid-handle, 5/16 shaft, 4x 5/8 bands, oval crossection. I've got a 1.75" x 2.75" x 65" teak blank to work with; 4 lams in the blank.

The mid handle hardware and router work I've all done before. But I did have a few questions before I jumped in.

I'm planning on ballasting in two spots: right behind the line anchor, and right in front of the handle. will this be sufficient? Or should I ballast in more or other places?

I love the band slot chamfering on the ulusub guns, and am planning on doing something similar to get the bands to lay down in a nice cluster. Any recommendations on how I can do this with a router?

I've read a bit about muzzle reinforcement. But I think I'm right on the edge of whether or not I need it considering the number of bands. The band slot on this gun will be completely closed. Any thoughts?

Lastly, I would rather not go with an enclosed track. Kind of sounds like a pain to put in. I've done some reading around spearboard and some reputable sources mention it really doesn't improve accuracy as long as you're not overpowering the shaft. Thoughts?

4 x 5/8" Bands (Small ID?) is a LOT of Power for a 5/16" Shaft. Go with 3 x 9/16" (14.5mm) Small ID and a 5/16" or 4 and an 11/32" ? or 3 x 5/8" and an 11/32".

You may need to add more Lead in the Butt of the Gun, but that's not such a big deal, there's usually some place to put it. You'll only really know after you put it in Salt Water to to the balance and ballasting. You can probably make it work how you want it.

You shouldn't need any Muzzle Reinforcement as long as it's closed and you leave a little Meat in the Muzzle.

You don't need an Enclosed Track. They are nice on Bluewater Guns and I've seen a lot of Very Very accurate Enclosed Track guns. But, you don't need one and they are difficult to make. What's most important is that your Shaft diamter and Band Power are mated correctly.

If you are makng this gun for Bluefin.. go heavier. Those fish are BIG, thick, and don't come reallly close.

Behslayer, yours was exactly the reply I was hoping for. Thank you for the recommendations! I'm taking this gun to NZ for the month of April, mostly going after kingfish. But I would like to be able to get out from San Diego for the Bluefin run this summer. I think I will go for the 11/16" shaft and test band configurations to find the right one.

Those KingFish will come closer than the Bluefin. You could make Open Track and adjustable ballast and make one gun for both.. 3 bands and 5/16" 4 bands and 11/32".

Regarding the Band Channels.. Never underestimate the value of heavy grit sand paper, a round sanding form and a lot of Elbow Grease.. If you can get a guiding cut that's ideal, but a 12" length of Pipe with 40 grit Sand Paper wrapped around it can dig some Channel too.

Spearomurray, jon’s advice is spot on regarding the kingfish. We take many kingfish on the east coast (20 to 30kg) here with 7mm shafts and 2x14mm bands and as long as you are patient, they will come in real close. They fight dirty though so work hard to keep them off the bottom or they will take gear.

Not really... bad shot placement ie. too high or too low and the shaft is gonna tear out 1 flopper or 2 as your'e not going to slow them down any and they're gonna pull on it with full strength. Just be patient and wait for the shot on the lateral line close to head and if you don't stone it, it will still hold. Its important to keep tension on the line though because if it runs, it can wear a fair size hole in itself and if you allow the line to go slack, the shaft can come back through the hole. They are notoriously dirty fighters and will go down to bottom and do all sorts of things to your shaft and shooting line if you let it!
I've had a 20kg+ kingy that I couldn't stop, literally swim my shooting line around a rock and then tear himself off the shaft like he knew exactly what he was doing!

Finished it right on time for my flight to NZ tonight. 65" tip to butt, neptonics tuna mech, 32" 5/8" bands. Got a 5/16" polished stainless addiction shaft for it. Super happy with how everything turned out and stoked to put it in the water in NZ!